Zuma hits back at those in the ANC calling his terms ‘nine lost years’

Staff Reporter

The former president appears unimpressed with the criticism that the past decade under his rule was a disaster.

In his most openly political and adversarial statement yet since he joined Twitter, former president Jacob Zuma has hit back at recent statements by particularly President Cyril Ramaphosa and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni that the past decade can be called “nine wasted years”.

Ramaphosa recently used the phrase “nine lost years” while speaking in Davos, Switzerland. Mboweni said the Zuma years were “wasted” and destroyed confidence among investors in South Africa.

“When you destroy investors’ confidence, the natural consequence of that is that investment dries up. Post-2017, confidence has been returning to South Africa, policy uncertainty is being removed and greater certainty is coming back,” Mboweni said in Davos.

Zuma released a long statement on Tuesday afternoon, republished in full below, in which he can clearly be seen to be